Breast-shaped hill
A breast-shaped hill is a hill in the shape of a breast. Some such hills are named "Pap", an archaic word for the breast or nipple of a woman. Such anthropomorphic geographic features are found in different places of the world and in some cultures they were revered as the attributes of the Mother Goddess, such as the Paps of Anu, named after Anu, an important female deity of pre-Christian Ireland.[1]
Overview
[edit]
The name Mamucium that gave origin to the name of the city of Manchester is thought to derive from a Celtic language name meaning "breast-shaped hill", referring to the sandstone bluff on which the fort stood; this later evolved into the name Manchester.[2][3]
Breast-shaped hills are often connected with local ancestral veneration of the breast as a symbol of fertility and well-being. It is not uncommon for very old archaeological sites to be located in or below such hills, as on Samson, Isles of Scilly, where there are large ancient burial grounds both on the North Hill and South Hill,[4][5] or Burrén and Burrena, Aragon, Spain, where two Iron Age Urnfield culture archaeological sites lie beneath the hills.[6]
Many of the myths surrounding these mountains are ancient and enduring and some have been recorded in the oral literature or written texts; for example, in an unspecified location in Asia, there was a mountain known as "Breast Mountain" with a cave in which the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (Da Mo) spent a long time in meditation.[7]
Travelers and cartographers in colonial times often changed the ancestral names of such hills. The mountain known to the Indigenous Australian people as Didhol or Dithol (Woman's Breast) was renamed Pigeon House Mountain by Captain James Cook at the time of his exploration of Australia's eastern coast in 1770.[8]
Mamelon (from French "nipple") is a French name for a breast-shaped hillock.[9] Fort Mamelon was a famous hillock fortified by the Russians and captured by the French as part of the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War of the 1850s. The word mamelon is also used in volcanology to describe a particular rock formation of volcanic origin. The term was coined by the French explorer and naturalist Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent.[10]
Africa
[edit]
African Great Lakes
[edit]- Mount Elgon on the Uganda-Kenya border
- Sweet Sixteen, Matthews Range (Ldoinyo Lenkiyio), Laikipia district, Rift Valley Province, northern Kenya.[11]
Horn of Africa
[edit]Indian Ocean
[edit]- Trois Mamelles mountains in the west of Mauritius
- Mamelles Island, Seychelles
Southern Africa
[edit]- Omatako Mountain south-west of Otjiwarongo in Namibia
- Sheba's Breasts, Eswatini; these formations inspired British writer H. Rider Haggard, who included them in his novel King Solomon's Mines.[12]
- Three Sisters in the Northern Cape, South Africa
- West Africa
Antarctica
[edit]- Una Peaks, long known as Una's Tits colloquially, at the entrance to the Lemaire Channel, Graham Land
- Nipple Peak, Palmer Archipelago, Graham Land
- Hemus Peak, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands
Asia
[edit]
Cambodia
[edit]- Sroh-Plom Mountain, "Virtuous Woman's Breast Mountain", located close to Senmonorom, Senmonorom District, Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.[14]
China
[edit]- Dazeshan Mountain in Shandong Province
- Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province
- Twin Breasts Peak in Tianzhu Mountain in Anhui Province
- Qianling Mausoleum near Xian, their shape is man-made
- Two Breast Peaks (Chinese: 雙乳峰):
- two mountains in Zhenfeng County, Guizhou Province
- two peaks of Golden Needle Mountain (Chinese: 雙乳峰) in Taimali Township, Taitung County, Taiwan
- Rushan (meaning "Breast Mountain") is a mountain in Weihai, Shandong Province, China.
Malaysia
[edit]- Hills on Dayang Bunting Island, Langkawi, named for their supposed resemblance to a pregnant maiden.
Middle East
[edit]- Jabal Al Nahdain is a set of hills in the middle of Sana’a, Yemen. It was on the property of the Presidential Palace and is used as a weapons cache.
- Tell Sader al-Arus (translation from Arabic: "Breast of the bride") is a mountain in the Golan Heights.
Philippines
[edit]
- Chocolate Hills, more than a thousand unusual geological formations in Bohol. A popular tourist destination named for their brown colour in the summer.
- Ilihan Hill, "Watery Breast", a pilgrimage site about four kilometres from Jagna, Bohol
- Kagmasuso, among other breast-shaped hills in San Andres, Catanduanes[15]
- Mount Susong Dalaga (literally "Maiden's Breasts Mountain") is the name of several peaks in the Philippines, including:
- Mount Susong Dalaga, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro[16]
- Mount Susong Dalaga (also known as Breast Peak) in Tampakan, South Cotabato
- Susong Dalaga Peak of Mount Batolusong, Tanay, Rizal
- Manabu Peak (also known as Mount Dalaga or Mount Susong Dalaga) of the Malepunyo Mountain Range between the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon
- Mount Tagapo (also known as Mount Susong Dalaga), Talim Island, Rizal two huge conical hills that are the highest peaks of Talim Island.
- Musuan Peak, an active volcano in Maramag, Bukidnon
Thailand
[edit]- Doi Phu Nom (ดอยภูนม), Phayao Province, a breast-shaped hill rising in an area of grassland of the Phi Pan Nam Range.[17]
- Khao Nom (เขานม), was one of the former names of Khanom, a district of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, due to the surrounding mountains.[18]
- Khao Nom Nang, a hill at Huai Krachao, Kanchanaburi. 14°18′00″N 99°43′00″E / 14.30000°N 99.71667°E
- Khao Nom Nang, (เขานมนาง), a hill north of Pak Phraek, Kanchanaburi. 14°05′00″N 99°34′00″E / 14.08333°N 99.56667°E
- Khao Nom Nang, a hill between Nong Pet and Chong Sadao, Kanchanaburi. 14°21′02″N 99°12′53″E / 14.35056°N 99.21472°E
- Khao Nom Nang, an isolated hill in Khok Samae San, Lopburi. 15°19′00″N 100°51′00″E / 15.31667°N 100.85000°E
- Khao Nom Nang, an isolated large hill in Khao Kala, Nakhon Sawan Province. 15°34′00″N 100°17′00″E / 15.56667°N 100.28333°E
- Khao Nom Nang, the name of two hills west of Doeng Bang Nam Buat, Suphan Buri. 14°51′00″N 100°04′00″E / 14.85000°N 100.06667°E
- Khao Nom Sao (เขานมสาว), "female breast mountain", a mountain located in Ranong Province, Thailand.
- Khao Nom Sao, a round hill east of Phet Kasem road in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. 10°59′00″N 99°22′00″E / 10.98333°N 99.36667°E
- Khao Nom Sao, a mountain in Chumphon Province. 09°46′00″N 98°43′01″E / 9.76667°N 98.71694°E
- Khao Nom Sao, a hill in Phang Nga Province, part of a greater mountain system. 08°58′00″N 98°28′00″E / 8.96667°N 98.46667°E
- Khao Nom Wang (เขานมวังก), a small hill just east of the main road at Phanom Wang, Khuan Khanun District, also known as Khao Phanom Wang, Phatthalung Province. 07°40′58″N 100°01′01″E / 7.68278°N 100.01694°E
- Ko Nom Sao (Thai: เกาะนมสาว, lit. female breast island) are twin islands located in the Phang Nga Bay,[19] Phang Nga Province.
- Ko Nom Sao in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.[20] 12°13′N 100°01′E / 12.217°N 100.017°E
- Ko Nom Sao, an island off the shore in Chanthaburi Province.[21][22] 12°28′N 102°01′E / 12.467°N 102.017°E
Europe
[edit]
UK and Ireland
[edit]- Mumbles, the two islands (on one of which stands a lighthouse) off the southeast corner of the Gower peninsula, Swansea, Wales
- Beinn Chìochan in the Grampians, Scotland
- Bennachie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
- North Berwick Law In East Lothian, Scotland
- Mam Barisdale in Knoydart, Scotland
- Mynydd Llanwenarth near Abergavenny, Wales
- Mount Keen in Aberdeenshire / Angus, Scotland
- Northala Fields in London, England. Technically 4 hills, and artificial, but clearly resembling two "grassy boobs" from the A40
- A' Chioch in Ben More, Isle of Mull, Scotland
- Mam Sodhail, on the northern side of Glen Affric, some 30 kilometres east of Kyle of Lochalsh
- Mam Tor, near Castleton in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England.[23]
- Samson, Isles of Scilly
- Twmbarlwm near Risca, Wales
- Wittenham Clumps in Oxfordshire
- Shutlingsloe, Cheshire
- Paps or Maiden Paps are rounded, breastlike hills located mostly in Scotland:
- Paps of Anu, near Killarney, Ireland
- Paps of Fife in Scotland
- Paps of Jura, on the western side of the island of Jura, in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland
- Paps of Lothian in Scotland
- Maiden Paps, twin hills in Caithness, Scotland
- Maiden Paps, twin hills in the Kilpatrick Hills, Scotland
- Maiden Paps, twin hills south of Hawick in the Scottish Borders, Scotland
- Maiden Paps, another name for the Tunstall Hills near Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England
- Maiden's Pap, another name for Schiehallion, Perth and Kinross, Scotland
- Pap of Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands
Denmark
[edit]- Marens Patter (Maren's Tits), a pair of twin hills that has functioned as a landmark for seafarers since the Bronze Age.
Germany
[edit]- Lilienstein in Saxon Switzerland
Greece
[edit]- Breasts of Aphrodite in Mykonos
Hungary
[edit]Iceland
[edit]Slovenia
[edit]- Šmarna gora or Mount Saint Mary north of Ljubljana
Spain
[edit]- Tetica de Bacares or "La Tetica", a 2,086 m (6,488 ft) high mountain in the Sierra de Los Filabres, Spain.[24]
- Picos de Busampiro, commonly known as Tetas de Lierganes, in Cantabria
- Tetas de Viana, La Alcarria, Guadalajara Province
- Puig de Mamelles, Felanitx, Mallorca
- Ses Mamelles, another name for the 714 m (2343 ft) high Puig des Castellot, Escorca, Mallorca
- Turó de la Mamella, a mountain near Vacarisses, Catalonia
- Burrén and Burrena[25] near Fréscano, Aragon
North and Central America
[edit]
Canada
[edit]- Anûkathâ Îpa in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta
El Salvador
[edit]- San Vicente, also known as Chichontepec, the mountain of the two breasts in Nahuat, a stratovolcano
Guadeloupe
[edit]Haiti
[edit]Mexico
[edit]- Las Tetas de Juana, San Pedro Municipality, Coahuila
- Tres Tetas Mountain or El Chichión in Costa Grande of Guerrero
Nicaragua
[edit]- Ometepe, in Lake Nicaragua. Legend says that the island's volcanoes Maderas and Concepción formed from the breasts of Ometepetl, a daughter of the Niquirano tribe.[26]
Panama
[edit]Puerto Rico
[edit]
United States
[edit]- Bubble Mountains, in Acadia National Park, Maine.[27]
- Isanaklesh Peaks, in Maricopa County, Arizona, formerly known as Squaw Tits.
- Nippletop, in the Adirondack High Peaks of New York. During the later 19th century, it was euphemistically renamed "Dial Mountain", a name now officially applied to another nearby peak.
- Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. Referenced many times on the Andy Griffith Show as Mt. Pilot. Andy spoke about a wonderful place to travel called "Pilot" by the locals.
- Pinnacle Mountain, Arkansas, near Maumelle. During the colonial and early American periods, the mountain was known as "Mamelle" mountain. "Mamelle" is a name commonly applied in the French-speaking parts of the world to a breast.[28]
- Rock Mary, Caddo County, Oklahoma.
- Spanish Peaks, Colorado, named Huajatolla by the Ute Indians, meaning "two breasts".[29]
- Tetilla Peak, Caja del Rio, New Mexico. "Tetilla" is Spanish for "nipple".
- Teton Range. French-Canadian trappers named the Teton Mountains around 1820. The distinctive peaks appeared as Les Trois Tétons (The Three Breasts) as seen from the north;[30]
- Twin Peaks, in San Francisco, California. When the Spanish conquistadors and settlers arrived at the beginning of the 18th century, they called the area "Los Pechos de la Chola" or "Breasts of the Indian Maiden" and devoted the area to ranching.[31] When San Francisco passed under American control during the 19th Century, it was renamed "Twin Peaks".
- Maggie's Peaks, just west of Lake Tahoe, California.
- Uncanoonuc Mountains, Goffstown, New Hampshire. From a Native American word for a woman's breasts.[32]
- Mollie's Nipple or Molly's Nipple is the name given to as many as seven peaks and some other geological features in Utah.[33]
- Tunas Peak located in Pecos County, Texas, west of Bakersfield.[34]
- Betsy Bell and Mary Gray, two adjacent hills in Staunton, Virginia.
- Little and Big House Mountain, two adjacent mountains in Lexington, Virginia, resemble breasts if viewed from Kerr's Creek.
Oceania
[edit]
Australia
[edit]- Pyramid Hill, Pilbara, Western Australia
- The Paps, Victoria
- Pigeon House Mountain, New South Wales
- Black Mountain (Australian Capital Territory) and Mount Ainslie, the space between being known as Canberra, meaning cleavage between the two 'breasts' of those mountains.[35]
- Mammaloid Hills, Victoria, Australia
New Zealand
[edit]- Saddle Hill, Dunedin
- Harbour Cone, Dunedin
South America
[edit]Argentina
[edit]- Cerro Tres Tetas, in Santa Cruz[36]
- Cerro Teta in Neuquén.
- Ñuñorco Grande, in Tucumán.
- Los Nonos, in Nono, Córdoba.
Bolivia
[edit]Chile
[edit]- Sierra Teta, Futaleufú
- Tetas del Biobío, formed by Cerro Teta Norte and Cerro Teta Sur, located in the mouth of the Biobío River.
Colombia
[edit]- Cerro La Teta, La Guajira
- Morro La Teta, El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia
- Pico Tetari, Serranía del Perijá, La Guajira
Cuba
[edit]French Guiana
[edit]Peru
[edit]Uruguay
[edit]- Cerro Batoví, in Tacuarembó. Batoví means breast of a virgin in the Guaraní language.[37]
- Cerro Pan de Azúcar (Sugarloaf Hill), in the Maldonado Department
Venezuela
[edit]- Tetas de María Guevara, Isla Margarita
- Teta de Niquitao, Trujillo State[38]
- Cerro de Las Tetas, Tinaquillo, Cojedes
- Cerro las Tres Tetas, Barquisimeto
Gallery
[edit]-
-
Church tower at Pennant Melangell with the breast-shaped hill in the background
-
Las Tetas de Lierganes, Cantabria, Spain
-
Cerro Las Tetas, Salinas, Puerto Rico, as seen from the PR-52 northbound rest area at km 49.0
-
Hill by Lake Elgygytgyn, Chukotka, Russia
See also
[edit]- Maiden Paps (disambiguation)
- Mamelon (fort)
- Mamelon (volcanology)
- Mamucium
- Monadnock
- Mountains and hills of Scotland
- Phallic Rock, a rock in Arizona, United States
- St Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell
- The Sleeping Lady
References
[edit]- ^ "The feminine in early Irish myth and legend". Scoilnet. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Mills, A.D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852758-6.
- ^ Hylton (2003), p. 6.
- ^ "Samson, South Hill Chambered Cairn - The Megalithic Portal".
- ^ "Samson, North Hill - The Megalithic Portal".
- ^ "Burrén. Parque Arqueológico de la Primera Edad del Hierro en Frescano". Ruta de la Garnacha. 30 July 2010.
- ^ "The Story of Bodhidharma". USA Shaolin Temple. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Didhol (Pigeon House Mountain)". South Coast of NSW. Morningside web publishers. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- ^ Moureau, M.; Brace, G. (January 2008). Dictionnaire Du Petrole Et Autres Sources D'Energie: Anglais-Franncais, Francais-Anglais [Comprehensive Dictionary of Petroleum and Other Energy Sources]. Editions Technip. p. 936. ISBN 978-2-7108-0911-1. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Decobecq, Dominique. "L'histoire du cratère Dolomieu (Piton de la Fournaise)" (in French). Archived from the original on 9 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Jackman, Brian (16 January 2009). "Africa: taking flight over Kenya's elephant country". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Sheba's Breasts & Execution Rock". The Kingdom of Eswatini. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Lay, Vicheka (25 March 2005). "Cambodian Resort "Virtuous Woman's Breast" Mountain". Tales of Asia. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- ^ "Virac (Capital Town)". Catanduanes Local Government. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Maiden's breast mountain, Occ. Mindoro (photo)". Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Doi Phu Nom picture". Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "The Legend of Khanom". Ice Family Tour. 2007. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Nom Sao Island (Ko Nom Sao)". Thailand.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2006. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Fun activities close by your home". Central Thai. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010.
- ^ "Ko Nom Sao". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
- ^ "Chanthaburi, Laem Sing Beach". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
- ^ "The meaning of place names in Ashfield". Ashfield District Council. Retrieved 4 April 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Tetica de Bacares, Sierra de los Filabres (2.080 m. altitud) (photo)". Panoramio. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Burrén y Burrena, las "dos teticas" con historia en Fréscano". Aragón Digital. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011.
- ^ "Nicaragua. Ometepe Island. Between ancient legends and biodiversity". SouthWorld. February 2017.
- ^ "Bubble Mountains". Hike Bubble Mountains ME. July 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ "Pinnacle Mountain State Park". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Evans, Frances P. (August 1958). "The Mystic Huajatolla". Trail and Timberline. Colorado Mountain Club: 103.
- ^ "Geology". Jackson Hole.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Twin Peaks: San Francisco" (PDF). City and County of San Francisco. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2007.
- ^ "Uncanoonuc Mountains". Dan LaRochelle. Retrieved 9 April 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Mollies Nipple Visit Utah". www.visitutah.com. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ "Tunas Peak - Peakbagger.com". peakbagger.com. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ Hayne, Jordan (4 April 2016). "Thousands of Indigenous heritage sites scattered across Canberra". ABC News. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
[The word 'Canberra'] means cleavage – the space between a woman's breasts, that's Black Mountain and Mount Ainslie, and a very very important area for our people, indeed a corroboree ground for our people, right where the National Museum of Australia is today.
- ^ "Cerro Tres Tetas - Argentina". www.indexmundi.com.
- ^ "Cerro Batoví" (in Spanish). Enciclopedia Geográfica del Uruguay. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Teta de Niquitao" (in Spanish). Cúspides Venezuela. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
External links
[edit]- Stuart McHardy, The Goddess in the Landscape of Scotland
- The Gododdin triangle by Philip Coppens
- Yakima Herald-Republic - State Changes Name of Hill (Squaw Tit) to Pushtay
- Mark Monmonier, From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame